The New England Patriots selected UNC Quarterback Drake Maye with the 3rd overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Quick blurb.
A to Z Sports' draft analyst James Foster ranks NAME as his 1st best overall prospect and 1st quarterback.
Player Scouting Report from A to Z Sports Film Room's James Foster
Strengths: (Copied from James Foster's Big Board)
- Prototypical size and arm talent
- Speed & quickness to be an effective runner in the NFL
- Comfortable hanging in the pocket & working through progressions
- Can break the pocket and make plays out of structure
- Recognizes post-snap safety rotations
- Makes difficult off-platform throws from different release points
- Aggressive attacking tight windows over the middle
- Has shown flashes of elite ball placement
Weaknesses: (Copied from James Foster's Big Board)
- Extended windup & average release speed
- Finished 2023 with his 2 worst games of the season (Clemson/NC State)
- Throws late on backside cornerbacks
- Over-estimates arm talent and forces the ball into closing windows
- Makes some dangerous throws when he doesn't see underneath defenders
- Average blitz recognition
- Ranks last in this QB class with a 66.1% on-target rate
- Sails easy passes, puts slants behind his WR, overshoots go routes, & leaders WRs out of bounds
- Inconsistent lower-half mechanics results in erratic ball placement
- Unnecessarily drifts away from throws
My Opinion and Analysis
This was the move that everyone hoped that New England Patriots would make.
New England needed a quarterback and they got one. While they gave fans a bit of a scare by saying they were open to potentially trading away the pick, they ended up keeping it.
Last season, Maye went 269-of-425 for 3,608 yards with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions last season, along with rushing 92 times for 582 yards with nine rushing touchdowns.
He will be joining a quarterback room with Jacoby Brissett, who provides a veteran leadership presence, while also having Bailey Zappe who knows the Patriot Way. And of course, there is also Nathan Rourke.